My vote: Very hard! But I think I'll go with AMOLAD. I discovered Maiden with this album and I still think it's great, great epic songs like The Legacy and Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, while there's some fillers, I think it's more consistent than Dance of Death even if I prefer some of the individual songs on this album (DoD, Paschendale, Montsegur) while Brave New World...well doesn't have any fillers but I don't have the same emotional link to it, FUCK IT, I'll choose with my brain and vote it, Dream of Mirrors is so damn good!

I personally think the last 4 albums are one of the best an old band like these could have made. Perhaps, you could say they sound tired, but they tried (and managed) to reinvent themselves after a more than average/mediocre decade (I kinda like The X Factor though, but it's not saving the 90s for 'em)

Please, before putting your vote in the designated area, try to listen to the albums if you haven't heard them recently and discuss the topic in a respectful/classy manner.

Like I was saying on the other thread, The Final Frontier is the best. It's simply a masterful album. I love the varied song themes, just like in the 80s, taking the listener to any number of different worlds, and I love the adventurous atmosphere. The band sounds experienced and wise, and every song has great hooks. In every post-2000 Maiden album, I feel they do a great job at crafting these songs that are repetitive but become powerful because of it - Bruce knows how to work a vocal line so that it stays heavy and impacting even though he repeats the chorus a lot, etc. It's not something that every band could do, but Maiden makes it work and TFF is the best example of that. Plus any Maiden fan who doesn't like "Isle of Avalon" or "The Talisman" is just disappointing to me.

AMOLAD has superb guitarwork on almost every song. So fucking heavy - that one is easily my second pick.

The Final Frontier for me. I actually truly enjoy this album all the way through as much as I do an 80s classic, which puts it ahead for me. But the other 3 albums are also exemplary in their own rights. Brave New World being a close second. A Matter of Life and Death had 2-3 tracks I wouldn't miss and the same with Dance of Death. So they get knocked down my pecking order. Agreed about Pachendale, a serious contender for the best song between the four albums.

I liked TFF, not as much as you did Empy, I checked it out again this week in preparation of this poll in fact. I really think it's overlong (the first and last track come on!) It would had been a stronger album at 55/60 minutes, this also works for AMoLAD to a lesser degree. But when the album works, it works fuckin' well with awesome songs like Coming Home, Mother or Mercy, The Talisman, The Man Who Would Be King.

Still, I think this should be their last album in this style, would be cool to have something very different in the future (maybe a fast album). I don't believe this is their last album, these guys are still in shape!

This was much harder for me than the first thread. Brave New World is a superb album all around, with some of their catchiest and heaviest material ever. Dance of Death has ridiculous, erection inducing solos, the title track, and Paschendale, but has lots of filler. Final Frontier, let's forget about that one. I just had to choose Matter Of Life And Death despite all of this. Not only was it their first album I bought and heard in full, giving me a huge emotional connection to it, but god damn it is it heavy and epic. The Longest Day alone is worthy of crying manly tears at the epicness when it's over. As Metantoine said (I really didn't know he liked the album, good surprise) The Legacy is fucking ace. They perfect the build up on that album and that song is a shining example. The band sounds incredibly mature and progressive, while Bruce arguably sounds more powerful than ever.

Brave New World for me! I have nothing against the other albums, but BNW is the only one that I actually like a lot. Dance of Death is solid, as is AMoLaD when in the right mood (when not, it feels like it drags at times, while it has a few excellent songs), but I haven't really been able to digest Final Frontier yet to be honest. Then again, I have only given it a half dozen of spins as of now. I guess you could say that all their 00s albums have some very good individual tracks (depending on the mood), but suffer from fillers etc.

BNW sounds inspired, packing lots of fresh songs that still sound like the Iron Maiden I got to love via hearing the "hits" of the 80s, as a pre-teen, whilst having its own quirks to it. It has epic songs, more "traditional" typical Maiden-like songs that give you the impression, "we're back in the business!", which is all good and fine. I don't think I like it quite as much as the albums during their hot streak of the 80s, obviously, but it still definitely an album in the 80-85%~ range for me. It also has two songs that would make it into my top20 Maiden songs, the best song being Dream of Mirrors.

_________________

Goatfangs wrote:

I named a praying mantis "Dio" after Dio, because he is awesome (the mantis is cool too). I even brought Dio the mantis to a metal show... so I can honestly say I was at a metal show with Dio.

Last edited by Deviante on Tue Feb 12, 2013 1:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

Too much 00's Maiden is all the overly long songs, often with seemingly the same slow intro before rocking, then slow going out type deal. And it seems like they are just getting more that way. Less attempts at prog and more direct ass kicking please. Brave New World wasn't great, but it was a good Maiden record and only has one really weak tune, The Mercenary, and a few gems that nobody talks about like Out of the Silent Planet. Fallen Angel is a good tune too. But BNW has too much repetition to be a great album. Its a pretty good one though.

Dance of Death all the way. Its my second maiden favorite ablum next to powerslave. Though I love all their albums though, maybe expect no prayer for the dying ablum, don't really listen to that one. I really like all thier 2000+ albums, I feel with their new albums they have gain more skill, also they feel alittle bit heavier and more epic which I like.

Only The Final Frontier and A Matter of Life And Death count. The other two are rubbish with some decent songs. I agree with Metantoine, basically, although I think TFF is the best of the four, being slightly better than AMOLAD. Being overlong is it's greatest flaw, as there's much excessive repetition and material that could've been cut out entirely. Still, it has genuinely great Maiden songs like Coming Home and When the Wild Wind Blows, and AMOLAD has some memorable choruses. Each of the four is at least half an hour too long though, and only the last two have actually great songs.

Brave New World and pretty easily. Best sound on these reunion albums and also most memorable songs.

Tried to listen to Final Frontier last weekend for the first time since it's release. Time certainly has not made it any better and it sounded just as dull and bad as in 2010 and none of the songs have anything good or memorable. Definitely the worst Maiden album in my books, yes even worse than Fear of the Dark.

Was a bit confused between Dance of Death and Brave New World, but finally went for BNW when "Blood Brothers" and "The Nomad" tickled in my mind.

_________________

gomorro wrote:

Infact I use to have a relly hot friend from there but unfurtunetly the last party we have I was really wasted and grab her ass and it cause a huge problem. Her dad (that is a marine) wants to ripp my nuts... thinks are not the same...

Hmmm, it's a difficult choice to make, actually. Essentially, I'd be choosing "Which album has the least glaringly obvious flaws?". So, that rules out The Final Frontier (hands down, their worst album), and A Matter of Life and Death is ridiculously bloated, and nearly every fucking song seems to adhere to that "quiet-intro-quiet-outro" structure. So, other than that you've got Brave New World with its overlong choruses ("We're Blood Brothers!" X 20,000) and Dance of Death which again has some dumb choruses ("NO MORE LIES!" X 20,000), an ill-fitting production and one of the tamest openers around. But, on the other hand, it does have some songs with a sense of purpose ('Rainmaker' is a good 'un) and it seems to be the least Maiden-cookie-cutter album of the four, so I'll go with that one.

_________________'Heavy metal top of the class, stuff the media up your arse!' - Den Dennis.

Kept looking at BNW and A Matter of Life and Death, for me it was mainly between these two, after a while it seemed a no-brainer - Life and Death. Tracks like Colours, Brighter than, but especially The Longest Day,

The world's alight the cliffs erupt in flameNo escape remorseless shrapnel rainsDrowning men; no chance for a warrior's fateA choking death enterHell's Gates

1. Brave New WorldMy favorite album of all time2. Dance Of DeathAlso one of my Maiden favorites, don't know what most people dislike about it. Horrible artwork tho.3. AMOLADThis one doesn't have any really stand-out tracks, but is consistant all the way through...4. The Final Frontier...which this one isn't. However, The Talisman, When The Wild Wind Blows and a couple other tracks are GREAT but the rest is meh.

Brave New World and Dance of Death I've only heard bits of, but they have been great bits - the stuff they played live on the last tour, mainly.

AMOLAD and TFF are both great albums, I think. However, whilst TFF might have better songs, it isn't as listenable all the way through as AMOLAD, which only really has one or two really cringy moments, and none of them are as bad as El Dorado, so I'll vote AMOLAD for best album, but TFF possibly contains some of the best songs from this era of the band.

BNW has a strong emotional impact in my eyes. And that emotion is doom. It is not without flaws but at times (particularly Ghost of the Navigator) it is convincing enough to stand on its own legs and not draw comparison to what Maiden done before or since.

BNW is the only one of those albums that can be placed side by side with the classics. For instance, I consider it way superior to Fear of the Dark and No Prayer. It might feel like it's the album that should have followed 7th son.

Gotta go with Brave New World; the catchiest, most consistent, and most compact of the Maiden comeback albums. After that, it's all downhill for me, culminating in the snoozefest that is TFF. But Brave New World is ace.

_________________

Nochielo wrote:

Crick wrote:

Years from now, no one will remember Gandhi. They will speak only of Fenriz.

Dance of Death, by a very, very slim margin over The Final Frontier. Paschendale, Montsegur, Rainmaker, Journeyman, title track... it's just so hard to argue against those, and while The Final Frontier is more consistent it also has the worst song in the decade by Maiden in "El Dorado", and I hate that song with a passion.

I like brave new world, but something about the albums after it just rubs me the wrong way. i can't listen to the last three albums at all, which is weird - i don't consider myself a huge maiden fan, but i can appreciate most of their albums, even the blaze ones. but after brave new world.... i dunno.

Though I haven't heard TFF (and probably won't ), I doubt it would top the epicness that is Dance of Death. Even the fillers (Faces in the Sand, New Frontier) are top-notch...as far as fillers go. I would go more into this, but I haven't touched the latter albums in years and have been a on a steady diet of the s/t'd - NotB.

_________________

ANationalAcrobat wrote:

Viking metal and pagan metal aren't legitimate sub-genres. People need to get over themselves and admit that.

A Matter of Life and Death, for me, feels incredibly solid - it's an album which is tied together particularly well by underlying themes, and there isn't a single song on the record which isn't enjoyable to listen to - it's gritty, but at the same time epic - There are few albums, let along 'Maiden albums, which are so well fitted together, and which work so cohesively as a whole, plus, I'm a sucker for war-related themes, so it's no surprise this album does it for me.

Hmmm, it's a difficult choice to make, actually. Essentially, I'd be choosing "Which album has the least glaringly obvious flaws?".

+

Xlxlx wrote:

Gotta go with Brave New World; the catchiest, most consistent, and most compact of the Maiden comeback albums. After that, it's all downhill for me, culminating in the snoozefest that is TFF.

The two quotes above, once combined, give a pretty good idea of where I'm standing.

'Brave New World' is not a great album in and of itself, but it is great compared to the others considered here. I'd say "least diluted" and "least repetitive" instead of "most compact", as they already failed at grasping the concept of "less is more" on that one. It might also be the one with the highest number of (self-)ripoffs, but it has a genuine "good to be back" vibe and a few actually cool tracks like "Out of the Wasted Planet" and "Ghost of the Ancient Mariner". It is modern Maiden aping classic Maiden and it expectedly can't hold a candle to the past glories, but it's the closest they got (and will get) to recapturing the magic. So I voted for that one.

I've humored 'The Final Frontier' once more, in Empy's honor (as well as the other two for this thead), and my opinion has not changed at all ("too old for this shit" sums it up, applied to the band and me both). I did find out where the obviously ripped off melody in "When the Wild Wind Blows" came from, though, which is always a relief for me. Make it real, Emp!

Rocka_Rollas wrote:

1. Brave New WorldMy favorite album of all time

Really, dude? You like this more than, say, 'Masquerade' or 'PowerSlave'?

I've humored 'The Final Frontier' once more, in Empy's honor (as well as the other two for this thead), and my opinion has not changed at all ("too old for this shit" sums it up, applied to the band and me both). I did find out where the obviously ripped off melody in "When the Wild Wind Blows" came from, though, which is always a relief for me. Make it real, Emp!

You are a little bit too harsh in judging the record the way you do, I guess, but I do agree that there some surprisingly blatant rip offs on the album (a section in the bridge of El Dorado sounds similar to the one in The Longest Day, Smith's lead beneath the final verses of The Isle of Avalon is copy pasted from the one near the end of No More Lies, the acoustic intro of The Talisman shares a striking similarity with the one in The Legacy ), but these flaws aside, The Final Frontier has its moments.

I'd venture saying that, this long into their career, STARBLIND is one of their finest moments ever and probably the best song since 1988 (slightly edging the monstrously epic that is Dance of Death's title track).